The Lord's Accusation against Israel
1 The Lord has an accusation to bring against the people who live in this land. Listen, Israel, to what he says: “There is no faithfulness or love in the land, and the people do not acknowledge me as God. 2 They make promises and break them; they lie, murder, steal, and commit adultery. Crimes increase, and there is one murder after another. 3 And so the land will dry up, and everything that lives on it will die. All the animals and birds, and even the fish, will die.”
The Lord Accuses the Priests
4 The Lord says, “Let no one accuse the people or reprimand them—my complaint is against you priests. 5 Night and day you blunder on, and the prophets do no better than you. I am going to destroy Israel, your mother. 6 My people are doomed because they do not acknowledge me. You priests have refused to acknowledge me and have rejected my teaching, and so I reject you and will not acknowledge your sons as my priests.
7 “The more of you priests there are, the more you sin against me, and so I will turn your honor into disgrace. 8 You grow rich from the sins of my people, and so you want them to sin more and more. 9 You will suffer the same punishment as the people! I will punish you and make you pay for the evil you do. 10 You will eat your share of the sacrifices, but still be hungry. You will worship the fertility gods, but still have no children, because you have turned away from me to follow other gods.”
The Lord Condemns Pagan Worship
11 The Lord says, “Wine, both old and new, is robbing my people of their senses! 12 They ask for revelations from a piece of wood! A stick tells them what they want to know! They have left me. Like a woman who becomes a prostitute, they have given themselves to other gods. 13 At sacred places on the mountaintops they offer sacrifices, and on the hills they burn incense under tall, spreading trees, because the shade is so pleasant!
“As a result, your daughters serve as prostitutes, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery. 14 Yet I will not punish them for this, because you yourselves go off with temple prostitutes, and together with them you offer pagan sacrifices. As the proverb says, ‘A people without sense will be ruined.’
15 “Even though you people of Israel are unfaithful to me, may Judah not be guilty of the same thing. Don't worship at Gilgal or Bethaven, or make promises there in the name of the living Lord. 16 The people of Israel are as stubborn as mules. How can I feed them like lambs in a meadow? 17 The people of Israel are under the spell of idols. Let them go their own way. 18 After drinking much wine, they delight in their prostitution, preferring disgrace to honor. 19 They will be carried away as by the wind, and they will be ashamed of their pagan sacrifices.
Yahwe banopa Iziraela nlandu
1 Ihwani dama la Yahwe imwi bathu be Iziraela,
ngoti Yahwe bana ndebo ne bagali be shango.
Akuna kugalamoyo kene ludo,
akuna kuziba Ndzimu mu shango.
2 Kuna kutuna kulonga bhiso ne kunyepa ne kubulaya,
kukwiba ne bupombgwe
banobhuda mu ndawulo,
betebula malopa betebedzanya.
3 Ngekwa ikoku shango inolila,
ngono bose banogala muili bapela masimba.
Phuka dze shango ne nyuni dzinowuluka
ne hwobe dze gungwa dzofa.
4 Koga ngakusibe ne unonyanyayidza,
kusibe ne unotendeka mmwe nge tjinyala,
ngoti iwe mpirisiti, ndebo yangu yakalingisana nawe.
5 Unowokuthiwa masikati,
kakale nlebesambeli unowokuthiwa nawe busiku,
ngono ndowokolomodza mme yabo.
6 Bathu bangu banolobesiwa
ngoti banosheta luzibo.
Se makalamba luzibo,
namibo ndomulamba se bapirisiti bangu.
Kakale se makazwikangang'wisa nlayo we Ndzimu wenyu,
namibo ndowokangang'wa bana benyu.
7 Bapirisiti bakati bepaphidzika
bakanditjinyila kunyanyisa,
bakatenganya gudzo labo nge tjinobhatisa shoni.
8 Banozwitjidza nge tjibi tje bathu bangu,
bebe magovu nge matjinyo abo.
9 Ngono kowofanana bathu ne bapirisiti,
bose ndowobalobela mipanga yabo,
ndowobabuzila mbhayilo we mija yabo.
10 Banowoja koga bakasigute,
banowonginikana ne bufukula koga abatowowanda.
Bakafupatila Yahwe
kuzwipa nge buzhalo mu bufukula.
Yahwe banolambana ne midzimu
11 Nkumbi we zhambi nkulukugwi ne nkumbi we zhambi ntshwa
unothama kuti bathu bangu bakong'we kuhwisisa.
12 Bathu bangu banoshaka bhatsho mu midzimu yakabezhiwa
bebe bedabigwa nge lukuni.
Ngoti meya ye bufukula yakabalasha
abatjagalikabgwe ku Ndzimu wabo.
13 Banobhayila zwibhayilo pezhugwi kwe matombo,
bebe bepisila zwibhayilo pezhugwi kwe matuthu,
bepisila na kusi kwe miti ye mioko ne mipopula ne mikosho
ngoti ina mitutshi yakanaka.
Ndizo bakololokadzi benyu banofukula,
balongo benyu banothama bupombgwe.
14 Anditowoloba bakololokadzi benyu abe thama bufukula,
kene balongo benyu abe thama bupombgwe
nge kuti balume ngekwabo banotizha nge fukula
be pisa zwibhayilo bana fukula.
Ndizo bathu basina wisiso banolobesiwa.
15 Nenguba uthamazo bupombgwe iwe Iziraela,
usitongo thama Juda ikabe nlandu.
Usitongo ngina mu Giligala,
kene ukayenda ku Bhetiaveni,
kakale usitongotuna uti, “Ha Yahwe batjatjila.”
16 Ngoti Baiziraela abatohwa,
banonga pholombe isingatebame.
Apa Yahwe bangabatjengeta kene
se pkhwizana dzimu mafulo akazhuka?
17 Ifureimi unonamata midzimu ye zwifano
unsiye akajalo.
18 Koti zwing'o zwabo zwapela
bakazwinginikanya ne bufukula.
Babusi babo banoda mabhatisa shoni
kupinda gudzo labo.
19 Tjampupudze tjowobasengela kutjena
ngono zwibhayilo zwabo zowobabhatisa shoni.